[Billthedrill]

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever."

John Adams to his wife Abigail, 3 July 1776

I get a chuckle out of this now and then because it reminds me that the thing happened over a number of days. I love how Adams says "from one end of this continent to the other," though. Lewis and Clark were nearly thirty years away. Adams and Jefferson would both die on the 50th anniversary of the 4th of July signing.

[Verginius Rufus]

John Adams' prediction that July 2nd would be the day of the celebrations obviously turned out to be wrong. I found a letter he wrote to his daughter Abigail on July 5, 1777, in which he refers to "yesterday" as the "anniversary of American independence."

After 1821 there were only three of the Signers still alive--Adams, Jefferson, and Charles Carroll of Carrollton. So after Adams and Jefferson died on the 50th anniversary, Charles Carroll was the only surviving Signer until his death on Nov. 14, 1832. Ironically, he was not present for the vote on July 2nd or for the adoption of the Declaration on July 4th, since it was only on July 4th that he became a delegate. But he was there in time for the signing of the embossed copy of the Declaration on August 2nd.